which dslr camera?

[ANDS!]

Your entire denigration of the XTi/XSi is based on the assumption that the OP will need what YOU need. A more expensive body, sure will take a lot of the "leg" work out of what the OP is doing, but the OP is a beginner and might not even NEED any of that. You are ASSUMING they will. I called you a toolbox (and stand by it) because it is incredibly ridiculous and irresponsible to try and dissuade someone based on the niggling reasons you gave above, none of which would prevent the OP from doing exactly what he wants to do: get an introduction to photography with a capable, compotent camera. Whatever the OP chooses, eventually using the camera will become muscle memory and a majority of the "Creature comforts" associated with more expensive bodies become moot.

"Buy this camera because I have it so it's the best!"

Not a single person in this thread said that. Irregardless, its still a valid OPINION and you kow EXACTLY what they are saying. "I have this camera, it works well for me, therefore I think it will work well for you."

So instead of being immature and throwing around names, how about you offer a better solution than a pointless "Buy what ever camera feels good in your hands" remark.

The XTI is garbage for portraits. You should look at a 5D.

Physician heal thyself. The only time you began to qualify this statement, was when you saw someone take the bait of your initial pointless, unsubstantiated two comments and were able to argue with your little rant.

 

[Village Idiot]

You should go to your local camera shop and hold/try out various models and see which one you're most comfortable with. All the DSLRs out there are capable of taking great pictures...

I have an Canon Rebel XTi and I absolutely love it. I never thought I would love taking photos this much. I'm really glad that I bought the Rebel line for my entry into photography. It helped me see whether or not I truely want to put some serious cash down into the sport. I like to think of photography as a sport.

I am now finding that I want my next move to be to a full frame body; probably the 5D. I prefer landscape and model photography as oppose to sports/action that's why going with the Rebel line actually saved me a little cash.

As for Nikon vs. Canon, of course I am comfortable with the Canon. I've tried messing with a D80 but I felt like a PC user trying to use a Mac. The brand you learn from is usually the brand you'll stick with throughout your career.

If you're in the price range of a d40, yet are concerned over the lens selection: look for a used d70 or d80. The D70 can be had for about $350 used, and is everything the d40 and more--with the only negative being the small lcd screen size.

If you can spend a little more, like $750 or so, a used d200 is an excellent choice, it will even light meter with old non-cpu lenses.

I personally recommend spending a bit more and buying a d200 or better--you'll be happier in the long run.

I will third the Pentax. Although I have not tried the K200, I have been using the K20D's twin. The pentax body is very easy to use. I have average hands and I dont have any problems locating the wheels, important buttons and with a battery grip locked in, its even easier to use. Very heavy duty construction and some great lens options. Again, it all comes down to budget and if you can look past all the nikon and canon hype, Pentax is a great option.

ok enough aruguing, i personally think that is wayy to nice a camera for a beginner, im still using my s5, a point and shoot

if your new to photography, get a point and shoot, save money and not spend 500+ on something you have no idea how to use. then when you get the hang of everything, upgrade

Your entire denigration of the XTi/XSi is based on the assumption that the OP will need what YOU need. A more expensive body, sure will take a lot of the "leg" work out of what the OP is doing, but the OP is a beginner and might not even NEED any of that. You are ASSUMING they will. I called you a toolbox (and stand by it) because it is incredibly ridiculous and irresponsible to try and dissuade someone based on the niggling reasons you gave above, none of which would prevent the OP from doing exactly what he wants to do: get an introduction to photography with a capable, compotent camera. Whatever the OP chooses, eventually using the camera will become muscle memory and a majority of the "Creature comforts" associated with more expensive bodies become moot.



Not a single person in this thread said that. Irregardless, its still a valid OPINION and you kow EXACTLY what they are saying. "I have this camera, it works well for me, therefore I think it will work well for you."





Physician heal thyself. The only time you began to qualify this statement, was when you saw someone take the bait of your initial pointless, unsubstantiated two comments and were able to argue with your little rant.

I was pointing out that the 30D has a greater number of features than the XTI and the prices are nearly similar. I was trying to make the point that if you're going to make a recommendation to some one buying a camera that you should do more than any of the posts above.

It was especially in response to:

Does it matter? In my opinion the XTi would be good for a beginner.

Does it matter? Hell. I could say that a 300D would be good for a beginner. Then again, if they had the opportunity to buy a better camera at the same price than a 300D, then the person recommending the 300D would look like an idiot.

This so far is the best response in this thread. Some one's actually trying to qualify the OP for a purchase.

Nikon!

Sorry, wasn't enough support on this thread for Nikon, so I had to toss it in there.

Surprised no one asked these questions, but here goes:

- what is your budget?
- what do you think you will like to shoot?
- how serious are you about photography vs. just getting some nice shots of the kids or whatever?

Also...search. This forum gets this question about 1x a day. There's an assload of responses to this kind of thing. Yes... an assload. Search is your friend.

No one asked the OP what they wanted, they just spouted out, "This camera is what you should buy"

And I own two rebels and a 30D. Many, many, many people share the same sentiments as me. They'd never use a rebel again after using a camera with such better controls unless they were in a situation where they were forced to.

And if the guy wanted to shoot high school football, a sport usually played at night, he'd be perfectly fine with a d40 and not something that performs better at high ISO levels, has faster AF, and faster FPS?

Of course, if he did buy the d40 on your recommendation and then found out that a body with different technology would help him acheive his desired effect with less hassle, then who would be the tool?

 

[ANDS!]

The problem, is that you DIDNT say ANY of that. All you said was "Camera X is **** for Activity X. YES it is!" That is far and away different than what you "meant" or whatever. Had someone not prodded you and left your comments above, they would walk away think Camera X is a **** camera. Which it is not. Is it better than Camera Y? Subjective based on users needs.

THAT is the problem, and the larger problem with this forum. The "big boys" roll into threads and presume the OP's should just "shut up and listen to me" and people say all kinds of wild and stupid nonsense. And then we never hear from these people again who had a genuine interest in the art but were perhaps turned off by the pointless snark of the forums.

 

[manaheim]

Been wanting to respond to this all day, but been too busy in my other real life job...

For what it's worth, despite VI's snarky nature (I love ya man, don't take it personally!), I think he has a point.

I frequently tell folks "Try to buy the least gimped camera you can afford, because gimped cameras will frustrate the hell out of you."

Does that mean to necessarily rush out and buy a D3? Well, that may be a bit extreme. (sorry, I don't speak Canon) However, it does mean that if you can swing the extra $400 to pickup the D80 over the D40, that you absolutely should.

The original questions I asked still hold, though... without knowing the person's budget and their particular aspirations, it's a little hard to know what cameras they might "get away with"... but again, to VI's point... if you buy one of the "main bodies" (D200, D300 and up) you will not generally find yourself saying things like "Oh crap, I can't use THAT lens", or "Oh fart, that shot would have been awesome if I had more than 3 focus points" or "Jeez, if I could have changed aperature faster I wouldn't have that depth of field issue", etc.

I feel very sincerely that a choice to go down in bodies is primarily a choice of budget. Getting one of the primary bodies is not going to give you "more camera than you can handle". That's just as silly as saying that "Your pictures are going to suck if you don't buy a D300!!!".

The common complaints are "Oh, it's so HEAVY!" or "Oh, it's so BIG!" or "Oh my god it's so advanced!" Meh. Not really. When you have a DSLR, they're all big... and they're all heavy... and they're all advanced... the small variances we're talking about really just aren't significant enough to worry about. Once you "break the seal" and go the DSLR route, you've already jumped into the water. It's not like yer not gonna get wet.

And again, to VI's point... the sub-bodies are harder to use, so if anything, getting a primary body is going to make it easier when you start doing things like working in manual, adjusting various settings such as ISO on the fly, etc. It's just simply more work on the sub-bodies. Is it gonna kill you? No, of course not. But it is more work.

Personally, in the Nikon line, I tell people to do whatever they can to not buy a camera under the D80 level. The D80 is a great camera with very few annoying limitations. Some, but not too many. To me, this is as low as you should go, assuming you can afford it. If you can't, there's nothing wrong with going lower, but you should try to avoid it.

There is one thing where I think these (EDIT) transitional cameras outshine the primary bodies for beginner types. Really one and one only. That is their modes. They have some extra modes like "Portrait", "Sports", "Landscape", "Auto" that make it a bit easier to take pictures in certain circumstances without having to know particular setting biases you should be making. This is a great way to ease your way into one of these bigger cameras, and a feature that the primary bodies lack. (I'm glad the primary bodies don't have this, because I hate it... , but I'm not new to this stuff, so that's fine.)

Again, sure VI is a bit snarky... but don't let that obscure the fact that he does make some good points worth considering.

 

[manaheim]

Once again, I managed to kill a thread. So sad...

 

[sultan]

No you haven't killed it yet. I also agree that it is worth spending a few more pennies to get a somewhat better body if you can.

(semi-exaggeration)If I was rich, I would get a D3 as my first camera then move on to the leica S2 after a week. If I had a 3 year old I'd give him a D700 as a toy and a few pentax K20Ds to take pictures of toys with.

 

[Village Idiot]

There's also starting to be a good market for even older cameras that still have the functionality and convenience of some of the newer cameras minus some of the features. D70, 10D, etc...

 

[Melontong]

WOOWWW..thank you all for the responses again. i learn a lot from this thread, especially from VI and Manaheim..thanks guys

well,, after much consideration, i think im going to get eos 400d as my first dslr.
wish me luck in getting good price for this and learning photography with this camera

 

[zeroskillz]

 

[RONDAL]

good lord.
reading this made me laugh and i had to respond.

There seemed to be a lot of fighting, for nothing.
If people had waited for the OP to respond on things like budget and use for camera i'm sure a lot of this headache could have been avoided.

This thread seemed a lot like someone trying to buy a new car.

buyer: "hi i'd like to buy a entry level new car, so i can get from A to B and pick up groceries and the kids"
dealer: "well then you COULD get a civic or corolla....but WHY? This ferrari enzo will do all that and more....and it will do it quicker and look better doing it, you see things like brake bias, you usually can't change that in a corolla, but you can change it from the steering wheel in this car"


i just hope the OP didn't get oversold into something that may have tons of features...but maybe he didn't NEED to have, the same way some of you NEED them.